The Tropical Vegetable Garden

I have a large area on the side of my house that I have never really known what to do with. I've planted many things there over the years, but it really never worked out the way I planned. It had become very overgrown with weeds, and since that side of my house needs stucco work, it was really an eyesore.

I went out today to weed it, and started to try to figure out what to do with it. It seemed that the only thing that ever did well there was elephant ears. WAIT! Elephant ears can be edible tropical vegetables! In fact, I have several EE's in the back yard that have edible roots, and I could buy some roots like malanga, eddoe, and such from the grocery store and plant them.

I also have several banana plants that really need to be moved, and some tropical spinach bushes that also need a new home. I just planted some papaya seeds.

I decided to turn that spot into a tropical vegetable garden! I will plant the root crops that look like elephant ears, and make a big screen in the front of bananas. Along the side, I will plant papayas and spinach bushes.

But what about the stucco? Well, forget the stucco! I'm going to put up cheap siding, paint what's not showing, and put up a trellis for beans or maybe chayote.

I can turn that problem spot into a spot that is not only beautiful, but will produce food for me! In the summer, I can plant sweet potatoes to act as a ground cover, so that the weeds will not take over.

I don't know why I did not think of this before! I'm going to be keeping a running picture log going on this post so you can see the progress. Right now, you'll see that it looks NOTHING like a tropical vegetable garden, but just you wait. By the end of the winter, it will be the prettiest tropical veggie garden you ever saw!

Here are the first pics. October 10, 2008